The Irony of a Human Heart
by Aristal Mortise
Summary: Honda Tohru and her twin sister Tomomi have,by a string of coincidences, come to live with their classmate,Sohma Yuki and his cousin Shigure.Both families have their secrets.Both have their pains,Tomomi's smile has been lost,but maybe someone can find it.
1. Chapter 1

FLASHBACK:

Honda Tohru sat quietly in her classroom wondering what her best friend, and sister Tomomi was doing at her school overseas when a teacher from another room suddenly appeared in the doorway and asked her to come and talk with him. His words shot through her with a horrible harsh feeling, her two friends knew something had to be really wrong and rushed to her side. The one thing no child wants to hear was the exact thing Honda Tohru was told that day, her mother, her only living parent had been in an accident and was now in the hospital in critical condition. Tohru and her friends were allowed to leave to be with Kyoko Honda in her time of need.

In California Tomo Honda was alerted about Kyoko's condition and reacted in a hysterical way for eight minutes until her usual calmness and business-like aura was reclaimed in her mind. Immediately she purchased a ticket for the first flight out to Japan. She rushed to get to her side as soon as possible. She arrived at the hospital room where her family and dear friends were only to find her mother taking her last breath. Tomomi stumbled to the bedside, took her mother's hand and cried out to her. She screamed for her mother to open her eyes, to look at her, she cried hysterically about how she was sorry she had left and that she would stay forever if she would only look at her, and then as her cries began to soften she forced out three binding chains:

"I'll stay by Tohru's side for you, I'll never allow her to feel alone, and I'll stay by you, too, I'll come see you everyday so we can share stories together just like we used to. I won't let anyone I love get hurt, never again."

"Tohru, we need to go or we might be late." Tomomi Honda said popping into Tohru Honda's tent.

"Okay Tomomi I'm just saying goodbye to Mother." Tohru said over her shoulder "Well Mother, wish us luck again today! We'll be back."

With that they left there tent and started the walk to their school, Tohru and Tomomi in their blue school uniforms, part of Tohru's hair pulled back into to small pigtails tied with blue ribbons that brightened her already striking blue eyes, Tomomi's long red locks bounced at her waist line, her curls spreading like waves as she took each new step.

Tohru suddenly stopped turning to face a large traditional house. She began to walk towards it, but Tomomi stopped her saying that the owner wouldn't want some strange kids wandering around. She changed his mind when she saw how Tohru looked at the Ara sitting on the porch. They walked up to the porch to admire the tiny figures until a tall young man appeared in the open doorway.

"There are girls around here?" the young man asked himself.

"Ahh! We're sorry, we just barged in without asking." Tohru said speaking for both herself and Tomomi.

"Oh it's okay, help yourself. I don't mind since these are just drying in the sun. But they're not very fun to look at from a young person's perspective, I assume?"

"Not really…"Tomomi replied

"They're very cute." Tohru added

"I see. I'm glad you feel that way. Since I'm fond of these myself." said the young man

"But as expected, there's no cat." Both Tohru and Tomomi chimed

"Cat?" He asked

"Oh you mean the kitten from the folktale of the Chinese zodiac?"

"Yes."

"Mm-hmm."

"Our Mother told us all about it."

FLASHBACK:

" Long, long ago Kami-sama told all the animals, I invite all of you to a party tomorrow. And on no account be late. When the mischievous mouse heard this he told a lie to his neighbor, the cat, that the party was to take place the day after tomorrow. The next day, the mouse rode on the ox's back and arrived in front of the meeting place and had fun there until morning except for the cat who was fooled."

"Tohru, Tomomi why are you crying?"

"That's so sad."

"It is, and it's all that rats fault. I hate rats."

"I feel so sorry for the cat."

"I know what I want to do instead of a dog I'll become a cat."

"Me too then we'll show that mouse."

"Oh I wonder what he'll think when he hears this."

"He?"

"Anyway, so you two were both born in the year of the dog, it seems we have some good chemistry between us. If it's alright with you how about going for me?"

"Pervert, I'll…" Tomomi was just about to punch the man when someone from behind him dropped a school bag on his head.

"I was wondering what you were gushing about, are you all right Honda san?" Yuki-san, the school prince asked Tomomi and Tohru.

"Fine thanks." Tomomi replied even more pissed off than she was a second ago.

"My cousin caused you all this trouble…"

"So…Sohma-kun?"

"That bag is really heavy." The young man said rubbing his head.

"Shut up you wretch!"

"Heh, you're Yuki-kun's classmate? Again I'm Sohma Shigure, Yuki-kun's cousin."

"Oh, I'm Honda Tohru."

"And I'm her older sister, Honda Tomomi."

"Honda-san why are you in a place like this?"

"Aah, ah…"

"Our house is nearby."

"Nearby? Here?"

"Ah, yes."

"Hmm."

"Well, we'd better get going now…"

"Uhm, Honda-san…"

"Yes?"

"Shall we go together?"

LATER THAT MORNING

"Honda-san!"

"Can we help you in any way, such as lending you a breath mint?"

"What was that about?"

"Yes, why were you coming to school together with Sohma-kun? Explain!"

"Why not? I mean he isn't attached is he?"

"Don't say that Tomomi. And it was just a coincidence."

"If it was just a coincidence then there won't be a need to call the police, right?"

"The fact that there are no girls that don't understand "Kaiwara High, Freshman, class D, Yuki Sohma" shows that he truly is beautiful!"

"I don't understand him."

"Is a super genius."

"You know he's not really all that smart."

"Is a super athlete."

"Rats run fast."

"Even we who are members of his fan club, "Princess," aren't able to get close to him!"

"Who would want you shrill voiced, stuck up, obsessive beasts around them?"

"Hey."

"What?"

"Tohru said it was just a coincidence. Don't bug her about it, idiots!"

"Wh…what? You think you Yankees can solve anything with idle threats?"

"You girls want to be…_BEEP_…by electric jolts?"

"Ahh!"

"Why do they listen to you, but not me? They didn't even notice my being here!"

"Uo-chan, Hana-chan you guys saved me! You too, Tomomi."

"You were being bugged Tohru, you're so sweet."

"Nice one with the electric jolts Hana-chan."

"Hana-chan, please don't really send electric shocks."

"Do it later, they deserve it." Tomomi said leaning in and whispering into Hana's ear.

LATER IN COOKING CLASS:

"Sohma-san is so pretty so when I was next to him I felt so nervous."

"he's pretty just like a girl, you'd think the boys would be the ones going crazy about how cute he is."

"Tomomi… please stop that. Anyway I wasn't able to have much conversation with him."

"I get strange electric waves from him…"

"It came out on Hana-chan's electricity report."

"What do you mean by strange?"

"Probably not really a boy."

"As for all that, I'm not sure…"

"Well, he does seem very secretive, that's for sure. And he doesn't really talk about himself, either. Before this when a sophomore girl asked him out and tried to get near…he pushed her away, she must have been shocked."

"It's strange that there would be a person who puts up a barrier like that these days." Hana said passing some rice to Tohru.

"Arigoto-gozaimasu."

"Well, that is to such an extreme."

"Tohru, Tomomi, don't you have to work part-time today?"

"Yeah."

"Yes, that's right."

"That's not good since your still staying at your grandfather's place."

"Ah…ye…yes."

"It's because you promised him that you'll pay for your own tuition?"

"Ye…yes."

"But…to pay for tuition in public school, I don't think you have to work that hard."

"Th…that is…"

"We…"

"Make sure you two eat every meal reguraly…and he's not stealing you're part-time money, right?"

"Yes."

"Understood? If something bad happens, you better tell us right away! I'll be sure to take care of it."

"Uo-chan I can take care of anything that happens, you don't need to trouble yourself."

"Sohma-kun thanks for this morning."

"No I should be the one to be saying thank you, since Shigure caused you trouble."

"Your cousin is a perverted freak, or is that how your entire family like that?"

"Tomomi…"

"I'm sorry Tohru."

"I think Shigure is a great person. He allowed me to see the Chinese Zodiac figurines."

"You said something about wanting to be born in the year of the Cat? Didn't you?"

"We decided that when we were kids…I…"

"Cats are idiots…"

"They have bad qualities."

"What?"

"They're better than rats."

"Honda-san, did you know? The Chinese Zodiac's twelve animals are in actuality "Jikkan" Chinese Zodiacs."

"Oh, no I don't."

"Originally it was used as a numeric device or as a watch. Afterwards the Buddhist form of the cosmic dual forces and the forces of the good and bad were added, so it became a thing used for fortunetelling."

"So it wasn't related to animals?"

"No…although I'm not to sure myself how and when animals got involved in the story. But cats never belonged in the Zodiac from the beginning. And it still wanted to become friends with the twelve animals of the Zodiac, its really stupid the cat."

"Does this mean that you hate cats?"

"I thought so from this morning, but you two seem somewhat pallid. You should take care of yourselves." he said quietly catching a leaf before it drifted down onto Tohru's completely still head.

"What do think we're idiots who don't know that already?" Tomomi shouted slightly beginning to dislike him more and more

"Well I'll see you again tomorrow."

"Hey li'l lady! Hurry and clean up this trash!"

"Okay."

"Phew! If I eat this much everyday, I'll get sick of it."

"Well then you make the food."

"Even if I make it, you're gonna complain."

"If pickled radish goes in my curry, I have a compulsion to make at least one complaint."

"Hmm…You're smart, Yuki, but you like such spicy and salty stuff. Hey, don't you think we need a housekeeper?"

"A female would just cause more trouble."

"Huh? Honda-san?"

"We're back, mother. I'm really sleepy, but I have to write a paper for class tomorrow."

"Lets go wash our faces at least, with water from the lake, Tohru."

"Ahh, what's the girly boy and his pervert cousin doing here?"

"Shigure, you laugh too much."

"So, I see… you've been in that tent?"

"Yes."

"Is there any thing around here I can stuff in his mouth to shut him up?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Since when have you?"

"It's been a bit more than a week."

"I thought it was strange, since this area is under the Sohma family's possession, and no one borrowed or bought the land."

"I'm begging you! Please lend us that place for just a while. When the construction ends we'll move right away! We don't have much money but we will pay!"

"Please?"

"That place is dangerous, you know. The ground in the area is weak and sometimes perverts come out."

"Oh, you mean like you tonight?"

"So I think it's impossible for two girls to live alone in a tent."

"I hate it when people ignore me."

"Are you done laughing?"

"It's alright! I already became acquainted with slugs and such! And besides Tomomi is very good at fighting. Physique, strength I have plenty of them!"

"Honda-san!"

"Tohru! Tohru wake up!"

"You have a fever!"

"Oh my..!"

"That's one deep forest!"

"That's a good metaphor. Hmm? Hear that there's definitely been a landslide somewhere."

"Excuse me but, how do you know that?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, you can say it's a natural instinct."

"Is it close?"

"Close to the tent…or something like that."

"Mother…"

"Uh, on no Mother!"

"Mother's picture is inside the tent! Mother!"

"Honda-san, calm down. You have a fever."

"But my Mother is…What can I do?"

"If I don't take it out fast Mother is going to get hurt!"

"When it gets brighter, lets come back. If either of you get hurt your mother will be much more saddened, right?"

"Mother, Mother…I'm sorry Mother…"

"Ahh, Honda-ana!"

"Hmm?"

"Honda-ana fainted!"

"Right now Yuki-kun is looking for some medicinal herbs…"

"I'm sorry…"

"You must be very tired. You pushed yourself too much."

"I lost my home again."

"Is it painful?"

"No…I know more painful things."

"Like what?"

"I didn't say…'Please go and come back safely,' the morning my Mother was killed in the accident."

"I had a small test, and so I was up until dawn studying. I couldn't wake up after and so only that morning, I couldn't say it. I've always said it. But that morning…I was thinking of quitting high school and start working. But, my mother said, _I only graduated from middle school but I've always wanted to become a high school student, I want you to be different from me and have a high school life._ It was at that moment I realized that she was working for my sake. But, for such a mother like her, I didn't say, ''Please go and come back safely,' even to her back as she was going out to work. So at least high school…the high school that my mother desperately wanted me to attend, I want to graduate, that is my…goal. I won't lose to a fever like this. But even that…isn't as painful as Tomomi's burden."

"Its quite amazing. She's always cheerful at school, even though they're suffering and all. I was planning on running away from the Sohma house, but ultimately I'd still be the same 'Sohma'. If I really can't stand it…I could have been like Honda-san and Honda-ana, set up a tent. And even if I were to be miserable I realized that I was just being a baby."

"To call it 'amazing' is being rude to Tohru-kun and Tomomi-Kun."

"That's true. I have a request. Will you let me go out?"

"Where? To dig that out? Shall I go to? It'll be difficult by yourself."

"By myself? Who are you saying that to?"

"Come back safely."

Tomomi opened her eyes slowly she had rolled in her sleep and her back faced the light coming in from the open doorway. Directly across from her was her still sleeping sister Tohru, she had always woke earlier than Tohru and she would usually spend this time before she woke readying herself for the day and then watching Tohru as she slept, trying to guess what she was dreaming about. This time was different. She rubbed her head where a small bump remained after she fainted and hit her head, the events of the previous night slowly filling her head. As the memory of her Mother's picture being buried under a landslide returned she clenched the slightly large silver locket that was draped around her neck, hugged her knees to her chest and began to cry. Tohru shifted her arm in her sleep and at that moment Tomomi caught something shining out of the corner of her eye. She bent over to look and see what it was, tear blurring her vision so she could barely make out the picture in the golden frame. It was the treasured picture of her Mother that showed how happy a person she was in life.

As Tomomi sat there silently mouthing thank you over and over, unable to truly get the word out, Tohru woke suddenly immediately recognizing the picture Tomomi held in her shaky hands.

"Mother…how?"

"Ohayo!" Tomomi and Tohru jumped a little when they heard Yuki's voice coming in from just outside the room.

There, Yuki stood holding five brightly colored bags. He smiled at the sleepy and teary-eyed girls, satisfied with himself and his good deed. "How are you feeling?"

"So…ah…oh?" Tohru stammered.

"You brought this back for us…"

"I retrieved your things. Do you want to check them?"

"Eh…Sohma-kun; you brought back all the things by yourself?!"

"Of course not."

"Do you mean that perverted weirdo was going through our stuff?"

"S E C R E T…"

"Huh?"

"Even though it's a dirty house…and there are only males there is an empty room upstairs that's large enough for two people to live in, and so until the construction is over, you two can stay here."

"Eh?"

"No, I'm against that."

"Thank you. That's very kind of you, but we can't except your offer."

"There's locks on doors you know?"

"No, it's not that."

"Tomomi-kun, Tohru-kun do you like doing household work? For example, cleaning or cooking."

"Ehh…Yes, I do like it…"

"Don't pop up behind people like that, mangy dog."

" 3WELCOME TO THE SOHMA'S HOUSE! 3"

"I'll also help in moving the luggage. Oh Yuki-kun, lend her some clothes, ne?"

"No you two look after us and on top of that we'll get a room! We're being too rude!"

"Yeah, I thought I told you guys we couldn't except your offer! Get back here and listen to my rejection!"

Yuki stopped and looked over his shoulder at the two girls he had just invited (or in a way forced) to live with his cousin and himself. "Honda-san, Honda-ana, it's us who are doing this on our own so don't think it's being rude. On top of that, you don't have a place to go, right?"

"Yes…"

"Well if we will stay then please, tell us about the Sohma family, and other things about…" The girls blurted out together, something they did very rarely, and Tomomi was interested in a family other than her own, which was an even rarer thing.

"Those things don't matter, Honda-san, Honda-ana, you can do things slowly, your own way…in this house"

"Well, is it really alright? To live with girls?"

"What's wrong with you? A moment ago you were just overjoyed because of that. It'll be fine, as long as we don't hug."

"Hey Yuki, have you noticed yet?"

"What's that?"

"Tomomi-kun seems very familiar, ne?"

"I try not to think about that."

LATER:

"Its definitely moldy because the room's been shut up tight for a long time. It'll be a good idea to keep the windows open."

Tohru stood still, watching Yuki open a window, her mind elsewhere, while Tomomi was busy fidgeting with the sleeve of the shirt Yuki had lent her, she never could stand still for very long. But when there was a thud on the roof above them they both stopped and looked up. Suddenly something came crashing through the roof landing directly in front of them.

A young boy with bright orange hair stood in the middle of a circle of rubble, dirt clinging to his tan pants dust all to visible against his black tee shirt. "Yo! I've been washing my neck waiting. Lets go."

"How about just giving up? Since you're so weak?" Yuki responded lazily, leaning on the windowsill.

"Eh? If you think I'm the same as before, you're gonna get hurt! I'm gonna crush that ego of yours!"

"Ah! Please, wait a second!"

"Hold it! What's going on?!"

Tomomi and Tohru lunged forward to try to stop him, slipping on the clutter left on the floor after his dramatic entry and crashing into him. Suddenly there was a large puff of smoke and the boy seemed to disappear.

"Yuki-kun, I heard a loud noise, did Kyo come home, by any chance?"

"I'm so sorry are you alright?!"

"Are you okay?"

Tohru lifted her arms, thinking she would pull the boy up too, as Tomomi stood and rubbed her aching head. When she looked at was clenched in her hands all she saw was a little, orange, angry cat.

"Ack! He turned into a cat! A cat right in front of my eyes! We have to get him to a doctor or…"

Just before Tohru ran from the room to try to take kitty-Kyo to a doctor a board fell from the hole in the roof Kyo had made.

"Honda-san!"

"Tohru!"

"Tohru-kun!"

Tohru began to fall forward, in other words straight into Yuki and Shigure. Tomomi saw this coming and sprang for her catching her just in time for them both to fall on top of Shigure and Yuki. As soon as the girls sub consciously grabbed for something sturdy, which happened to be Yuki and Shigure, the boys turned into animals.

Tomomi looked inches ahead of her to where Shigure once stood, but now the space was occupied only by a medium sized, black dog. She blink twice then realizing that really just happened she glanced to her side finding a tiny grey mouse standing awkwardly on top of a pile of Yuki's clothes. At seeing the mouse her eyes dilated she squeezed out the word rat and then Tomomi fell, crashing to the floor just barely missing doggy-Shigure.


	2. Chapter 2

Tohru ran down the stairs carrying in her arms the little black dog; Shigure had turned into, the tiny grey mouse who had once been the most popular boy in her school, and the orange cat the boy who had crashed through the ceiling a minute ago had turned into, screaming about how everyone had turned into animals and that it was an emergency. She stopped just before she ran into the mailman.

"Ah! Mailman-san! It's an emergency! Everyone became animals!"  
"Ah, Are they those animals? Here is your mail."

The little black dog jumped down from Tohru's arms and took the mail the mailman had held out for them.

"That's a very smart dog, well then."

Tohru dropped the animals and slumped to the floor as the mailman closed the door and left. She felt like crying in frustration until suddenly she heard an angry voice from behind. "Ah hell…" she turned slowly, knowing the only ones who were behind her were three boys who had just turned into animals in front of her eyes, and her unconscious twin sister.

"I can't make up any excuse, if you guys transform, too!" Tohru could now see fully that the voice had come from the cat that was arched and hissing fiercely.

"The one who got clumsy first was you, baka neko!" The little grey mouse that Yuki had became, was now staring back at the cat just as menacingly.

"Baka neko, eh?! Try to say that again!"

"Baka neko!"

"Why you!"

"That's enough!" doggy-Shigure shouted.

He sighed, knowing what came next would most likely be tiresome. "It was inevitable. Let's tell her the truth rather than try to hide it. Tohru-kun, Tomomi-kun, wait where's Tomomi-kun?"

"She fainted after seeing me."

"Oh. We'll have to take care of her later. Anyways, Tohru-kun, I'm a dog and Yuki-kun is a mouse…and he, Sohma Kyou is possessed by a cat's vengeful spirit."

"Vengeful spirit is it?"

BACK UPSTAIRS:

Tomomi lay unconscious, aware of nothing from the world around her, while in her mind thoughts of the events that had just overcome her swirled and tangled into a knot of confusion.

_So I was right about that Yuki-san, he really is a rat. And his cousin, the pervert, he's not just a figurative dog, but he is a literal one, too. But what else, a boy? There was a boy. He came down from the sky, and crashed through the roof. Was he…was he angry? Angry at Yuki-san…but he disappeared…he disappeared after we fell on him, me and Tohru. Tohru! Huh?! Where? What happened to Tohru?!_

In her unconscious state she imagined her sister begin covered and overwhelmed by rats, crying for Tomomi to help her. Yuki yelling at her, telling her to shut up, and that Tomomi wasn't going to help her. He laughed manically as Tohru cried, still being taken away by the rats until Tomomi could no longer see her face. All she could do was listen to Yuki's horrible laugh until suddenly he turned into a rat, himself, in a puff of smoke.

"No." Tomomi suddenly shot awake breathing heavily, to her the scene she had just witnessed was not a product of her imagination but a premonition of what was about to happen. She tried her best to silence herself, listening to the happenings of the house. From below she could barely make out the sound of voices, one in particular. "Yuki-san."

She ran down the stairs as fast as she could. The first thing she could see was a cat, she only glanced at it since her main focus at that moment, as always, was Tohru's safety. She wheeled around to see the rest of the scene that had gone on while she slept. She spotted Tohru and her heart, which had been racing with fear, steadied into a subtle thump. She took a step forward, closer to her precious sister, when smoke surrounded her Tohru and the three animals that sat in the room with them disappeared.

When the smoke cleared enough for her to see what had happened she immediately looked to where the first voice she heard came from. "…the fact that we're naked."

She couldn't help herself but to look and see if this voice was telling the truth, she hoped with all her might that it wasn't. She first saw Shigure as that was where the voice had originated, she sucked air in through her wide open mouth and turned away as quickly as she could. She turned to the right only to find her self looking at Yuki, she turned again to the right so that she faced the stairs from which she came. She silently put the pieces of this horrible nude puzzle that was forced upon her together.

She remembered that when she had come down the dog and rat were in the same places as Yuki and Shigure were now, which means that the cat she had seen at the foot of the staircase-which must be the strange boy from earlier-was probably now the naked version of the boy.

Her curiosity got the best of her and she turned to check if her logic was correct. There, hunched over in the corner she found an orange haired, naked boy, who, unfortunately was looking in her direction and saw her glance at him. She blushed, turned to face the wall, leaned her head against it, and stared at her feet, her face still an awkward red color.

LATER THAT DAY:

Tohru and Tomomi sat quietly and awkwardly on one side of a table while Shigure and Yuki sat on the other side and Kyou sulked on the porch across the way.

"Oh my, we've embarrassed ourselves."

"Ah, but I understand."

"Tohru-kun, Tomomi-kun , you said you wanted to be cats, right?"

"Eh, yes…"

"Mm-hmm…"

"So, what do you think after seeing the one in real life?"

"But Kyou is stupid! Is he puts his mind into martial arts what is he going to do after being caught from behind that easily? That's shameful, the shame! At least he should have read some move. How will he recover from this situation? Truly he just doesn't care about anything but Yuki-kun. So troublesome!"

"Stop talking strange things! I can't help because I didn't know! By the way, why are those people in this house? Those people are females!"

"Shut up. You have nothing to do with the fact whether there's a female in this house or not. Because you're an outsider."

"Shut up!" Kyou shouted slamming his fist down onto the table in frustration.

Kyou was surprisingly strong for his looks and from the force of his punch the table split in two. The half of the table closest to Tohru and Tomomi flew up threatening to slam into them. Tomomi noticed this in time and threw her left arm up blocking her head, while Tohru, whose reflexes weren't quite as good was hit directly on her forehead.

"Tohru-kun, blood!"

"Huh! Tohru…"

"What? Heh? Blood?"

As Tohru sat trying to find where she was bleeding from Yuki silently got up, walked over to Kyou, and struck him across his face.

"Baka!" Tomomi suddenly shouted.

"Soh…"

"I knew he was dumb, but I didn't expect this much, for being that dumb."

"I'm going to fight you seriously today. Don't make me bored." Yuki said glaring at Kyou while undid the first button on his shirt.

"Alright, you sissy!" Kyou shouted beginning to throw a punch.

"Sohma-kun!" Tohru shouted worriedly before Shigure took her to clean her wound.

"Don't worry. Those two really don't get along, they're like the opposite of you and Tomomi-kun. Whenever they see each other, they start fighting."

"Stop fighting, I mean it! Stop!" Tomomi shouted angrily at the hostile boys.

"Its okay. It will finish soon anyway."

Just then Yuki dodged one of Kyou's kicks, sending him flying with one of his own. Kyou landed, unconscious, on the ground outside just barely missing some stones.

"Didn't I tell you not to bore me?"

"He flew over?"

"Yuki-kun don't destroy the house!"

"I didn't know he would get knocked out like that. Its impossible for him without any guard. Honda-san how's the wound?" Yuki asked walking over to Tohru.

After Yuki had knocked Kyou out Tomomi had stood silently with her back turned to the others. But when Yuki tried to check Tohru's wound she stepped silently to him, dropkicked him, took him by the collar of the shirt, punched him in the gut, and threw him into the dirt without any hesitation.

"Baka, Baka nezu! Don't ever do that again! I swear, next time I'll kill you!" Tomomi shouted angrily, then tilted her head down, sighed and regained her usual apathy.

She turned to Tohru and with a kind, gentle, almost motherly tone she only used with Tohru and asked; "Tohru, are you okay? Your head doesn't hurt, does it?"

"I'm fine but Tomomi you shouldn't have done that."

"He'll be fine, I went really easy on him since you consider him a friend."

"Okay, but what about him?" Tohru asked no one in particular.

"He must be fine, probably."

"Tohru-kun, Tomomi-kun, after seeing this your dreams of being cats must've been ruined."

"Eh? That's…"

Usually Tomomi would've just agreed with what ever Tohru said, which she would've done now except for the fact that she didn't even acknowledge they were talking at all. She had been debating with herself whether or not she should go help Kyou, but after he heard Shigure and Tohru talking he ran off, although she hated to leave Tohru, Tomomi fallowed him.

"Ah, Tomomi! Kyo-san!"

"Tomomi-kun."

"School?! I am late! I am late! I am late!"

"What do you mean, school? Your suit is all dirty. See? it got dirty at the mountain yesterday."

"Its alright! I can just say I tripped."

"No I don't think that it is going to work."

" I'm sorry, but I really want to attend a school seriously."

"It's the promise you made to your mother who passed away, right? But, I'll report this to Akito-san anyway."

"Akito-san?"

"Ah, the head of the Sohmas."

"Head you said? He must be a really important person."

"Yes. After all, the biggest secret of the Sohmas has been revealed."

"I see, I'm going."

" 3Come back safely! 3"

"Are you going to fallow me for the rest of the day or something?!"

"Uh…ah…hmm…"

"Well!"

"Ah. How's your head? You didn't hit it on that rock, did you?"

"What? No! Now tell me, why are you fallowing me?!"

"Are you sure? Hold still."

"What are you doing? Get away from me. Ah! Hey that hurt!"

"It wouldn't have if you would've stayed still. Now, Sohma-san, stay still, I have to clean this."

"Leave it alone I'll clean it myself later."

"No you won't, not unless you're as flexible as a cat ,too. Because no human could properly clean this wound their self."

"Why don't you just leave."

"I don't know, I guess its 'cause you aren't like most people, and…well that's a new and exciting thing for me. So, Sohma-san, will you please sit down so I can help you?"

Kyou hesitantly replied "You need to get out more, then." He sat down crossing his arms over his chest.

"I guess your right, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon." Tomomi giggled "Uhm, Sohma-san…I need you to take your shirt off. Other wise I can't do any thing since your wound's way up here." Tomomi said gently placing three fingers just below the wound.

Kyou arched his shoulders awkwardly and his shoulder blades stuck out pulling closer to each other. Tomomi giggled a little and then tugged on his shirt until he leaned forward and pulled it off. He put it in his lap and sat up straighter for her to clean it.

"What are you doing exactly?"

"Well, its not really cleaning it. But we should probably wash this out so it doesn't get infected, and, lucky for you I grabbed a bandage for Tohru's head without realizing Shigure already got one, so we can bandage it up."

"Where are you going to get the water? There's none around here."

"That's what pockets are for." Tomomi told him producing a bottle of water from one of the deep pockets of her pants with an 'I told you so tone' in her voice.

It was quiet for the next few minutes as she tore a piece of fabric off her shirt, promising herself that she would apologize to that dirty rat, Yuki for ruining _his _shirt, and proceeded to clean Kyou's cut. She could tell he felt awkward about it by the tenseness of his back but she didn't quite understand why. "Sohma-san, do you hate Yuki-san?"

"That's none of your business, is it?"

"I guess not, but I was just wondering. Hmm, if you had said yes I would have asked why, then I would have probably barrowed your answer anytime anyone else asked me that."

"What do you mean?"

"That's none of your business, is it? But I'll give you a hint anyways, if you had said yes, I wouldn't blame you."

"Okay, hold on one second. I just have to put this bandage on then you can put your shirt on, run off, go back to the house or do whatever it is you want to do."

"Good. I'm getting bored."

"You know you're pretty good at martial arts."

"But not good enough, if I can't even beat that damn Yuki."

"Ah…ha, I thoughts so, you _do_ hate him."

"So what?"

"Well, I guess that I'm happy, because that means I'm not the only person in the world who sees it."

"Sees it?"

"Oh nothing, nothing…"

Kyo stood up, slipped his shirt over his head and started walking away. Tomomi watched him walking until he stopped suddenly, turned back around and gestured to her. "Well, are you coming or not?"

"Is that okay with you?"

"I'm not going to leave you here, I'd never hear the end of it if you got lost."

"Well, if your going to let me stay with you."

"You know, you're a really strange girl."

Kyou walked on Tomomi's left side and when her sleeve brushed against him and it felt wet he stopped, grabbed her arm and inspected it, much to her dislike. He found it was blood but the actual wound was relatively small. "Idiot. What did you do?"

"Uh… I don't know. I guess that happened when Tohru got hurt. Huh? Is something wrong?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"I know. If you had I would've done to you what I did to Yuki-san."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I got mad at him and hurt him."

"Yeah right."

"You don't believe me?"

"No."

"Okay then."

"Sohma-san, I hope you're not too mad at me, but I just wanted to fallow you. I think you're a very strange, temperamental, seriously cocky… but interesting person and I hope you don't hate me. I'm sorry, I really am."

Tomomi walked back to the house, thinking of what Tohru was doing, if she thought she was mad at her, if she was worried. When she got back she went into the room that had been given to her and Tohru, took out a sketch booklet and a pencil. She walked all around the house trying to find a place that would be comfortable until she found a way onto the roof. There she sat concentrating on her memories of that day so far and sketching out random images. She had done this routinely every day for the past three years, this time her drawing consisted of only one figure in a open area smiling at back at her, she knew the image wasn't from a memory of that day, but that's the only image that stuck hard enough to draw.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tohru coming back and rushed to greet her. When she reached the corner before the entrance she stopped and concealed her self, while on the roof she hadn't noticed that Yuki had been walking with her. Yuki walked over to Shigure's office and Tohru checked around for Tomomi. When she couldn't find her she figured she was in the room that had been given to them earlier. She told Yuki that she was going to put away her bag away and ran upstairs. Tomomi thought for a second about how much she wanted to kill Yuki for being alone with Tohru then decided to fallow her little sister.

Tomomi saw Tohru standing in the door way and then heard a guy's voice. She recognized the voice and stayed just within earshot.

"You can call someone to fix it better, later. This'll at least keep the rain out."

"Yes, thank you. "

"Hey!"

"Yes?!"

"I'm not very good at controlling my temper. When I get angry I … I don't know I guess I don't have enough training. I just can't stand losing to that damn Yuki, so about this morning it wasn't…what I mean is I'm sorr…"

"I'm home Yuki-kun, Tohru-kun, Tomomi-kun; are you here?" Shigure's voice suddenly interrupted Kyou's apology. "And Kyou I hope you're not doing something stupid and tearing up my house again."

"Oh, forget it!" Kyou said giving up and running from the room.

Kyou had been running and watching his feet so he hadn't noticed Shigure walking towards the room or Tomomi standing in the middle of the hall. He looked up just before he rammed into her. She had seen him coming and spun out of the way just in time. He looked over his shoulder and she straitened herself out and smiled at his shocked face.

Tohru had fallowed him out and tried to stop him.

"He'll be back. It's not like he's got anywhere else to go. But never mind him can you come in here for a second, you too, Tomomi-kun?"

"Alright…"

"Sure."

"I had a little talk with Akito-sama today. He's decided that as long as you can keep our secret, you two can stay here."

"That's good. So then there's no punishment?"

Tomomi and Shigure were both shocked. " Punishment?"

"Why would we…you can keep the secret?"

"Of course."

Tomomi glared at Yuki, wondering what he had told Tohru to make her think they'd be punished.

"Uh-hmm, sorry to interrupt, but we have something we'd like to say."

"It's just that, you've both been so nice to us. I hope its no trouble."

"You don't have to do this and we thank you for being kind enough to do it anyways."

"Uh, of course it isn't any trouble."

"Make yourselves at home, okay."

"Okay."

THE NEXT MORNING:

The girls had asked to be shown the kitchen, so Yuki hesitantly escorted them to it. The room was filthy, bags of garbage sprawled out across the floor, dishes piled mile-high in the sink, it wasn't at all surprising that bugs were flying about everywhere you looked.

"Well, I guess it isn't going to clean itself."

"If you'd like I'll help you."

"Better not. The closest thing Yuki-san's ever seen to a mop is that hair cut of his. I think he'd just get in the way."

"Making excuses so you don't have to help, mangy dog?"

"Oh Tomomi, its okay if they don't help, we'll be fine on our own. We can take care of it, right onee-chan?"

"Yes, yes."

"Besides, we did all make a deal that we'd do the house work in exchange for our room. We wouldn't be earning our keep if we let you two help us."

"Well, I can see we're in good hands. I'm going to go find Kyou-kun, and I'll be out with him for awhile. We should be back in time for lunch."

"Sure. Just leave it to us."

"Uh.. right, just leave it to us."

"In that case I'll go out to."

"Fine we'll be done when you get back."

"Right, no you two should get going so we can clean this before I pass out from the fumes."

"Uhm, Tohru where do you think should start?"

"I'm not really sure but the Honda sisters never give up, right?"

"Right, that spirit of your's is what makes you so cute!"

Tohru and Tomomi cleaned the Kitchen from head to toe as fast as they could knowing that they would need to make lunch for five people, including two teenage boys which meant that they should make a little extra.

When they were done the kitchen looked like an entirely new room, a rice cooker was discovered in the trash heaps, the dishes had been washed and dried so that they were squeaky clean, food was on the stove, and the counters and floor were so clean you could eat of them.

"Amazing. If I didn't know better I'd think I walked into the wrong house." Yuki said entering the room for the first time since this miracle clean-up was done." Since when do we have a rice cooker?"

"I found it under all the trash. Oh, by the way I hope you've got your appetite because lunch is almost ready."

"Mmm. It's delicious."

"You think so? You don't think its to bland?"

"It's perfect, the best lunch I've ever had."

Tomomi leaned over to Yuki and whispered into his ear." You better be telling the truth I go easy on honest people, you know."

"Don't be silly."

"That reminds me I wonder where Shigure-san and that stupid cat ran off to?"

"I don't know they said they'd be back by lunch time."

"Well, shame on them its rude to let a meal this good get cold."

"You went out for a while too, didn't you? Where'd you go? Shopping?"

"Oh no, nothing like that I just went out back to my secret base."

"What you have a secret base? You mean like a fort or an underground hideout? That's so exciting!"

"I don't think its quite as elaborate as what you're thinking. But I'll tell you what next time I'll take you with me, you too Honda-ana."

"What? Do you really mean it? Oh, We're going to a secret base, I've always wanted to see one in person. The neighborhood boys had one when I was a kid, but they told me girls couldn't enter, then Tomomi beat one of them up and told them to take it down."

"Stop, Kyou-kun just listen to me!"

"I don't wanna hear it. You think its fun jerking me around like that."

"Now just wait, it wasn't…okay it was a little bit fun, but that's not why I did it. It was for your own good. Don't forget, it was Akito-sama's decision."

"Shut up. I don't give a damn about Akito-sama."

"Oh, uhm are you hungry, I made you some lunch."

"Shut up

"Kyou-kun, don't take this out on Tohru-kun. And use the front door next time, and take off your shoes."

"You're setting a fine example."

"This is the first time I've seen you in a suit. It looks good on you."

"Really, you don't say."

"Try not to flatter the pervert, Tohru."

"You, look like a butler."

"Ah. Lunch is ready."

"Yes, but shouldn't we see about Kyou-san?"

"Oh, him he just needs to let of some steam. He's angry that I made him take an entrance exam."

"…entrance exam, for what?"

"Funny you should ask. As of today Kyou-san is officially the newest student at your school. Oh and he's also going to be living with us for now on too."

At this Yuki stopped and was stunned for a second, while Tomomi choked on a piece of fish.

"Don't you take a single bite get out."

"Oh, well I had a feeling you'd be upset…ha ha."

"You see Kyou pulled a bit of a vanishing act on us, he just disappeared for four months. He was up on a mountain top, training."

"What kind of training."

"Let me guess he's been meditating under waterfalls and fighting bears."

"Uhm, I'm not so sure about that part, but the point is Kyou-kun really wants to beat Yuki-kun."

"Baka neko."

THE NEXT MORNING AT SCHOOL:

"Poor Kyou-san he looks so scared."

"They're exactly the same. His electric waves are exactly the same as Yuki-san. There's something about them that's almost inhuman."

"Hana-chan that's just rude."

"Hey, Yuki-san, this new guy is he really your cousin or what?"

"Yes, but I don't really know him."

"Hey, I thought we were talking."

"Wait, come back." A girl ran to catch up with Kyou and grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. He didn't see her coming and reached around pinning her to the ground with her arm stuck behind her.

"Oh Kyou-san you shouldn't do that."

"Ow, that hurts. Get off me!"

"Sohma-san stop, let her go."

"Just leave me alone!"

Kyou suddenly jumped off the girl, slammed the window open and jumped out. He landed on his hands and feet then took off without a second's delay. Everyone in the class, excluding Yuki and Tomomi rushed, over to the window and watched him.

"Wow that proves it he's definitely related to Yuki-kun."

"Isn't this the Second floor?"

"Hey aren't you forgetting about me. I did just get my arm ripped off."

"Did you see how Tomomi-san re-acted, she never does that."

"Do you think they know each other?"

"Hahaha, that was hysterical. He looked like a cat trying to get out of a bag."


	3. Chapter 3

Tomomi watched as Yuki silently slipped out the room. She grabbed Tohru by the sleeve and together they fallowed him. They a him round a corner and could hear him start to say something. They came as close as the other side of the corner and listened as Yuki and Kyou argued.

"It serves you right. Why do you want to go to a school with all these crazy giggling girls, anyway?"

"I suppose you'd prefer I live my life in fear of being transformed. You sound like Akito-sama, he thought I should go to an all boys academy, too, which is why I came here, to get away from him, and out of that house."

"What do you know, you're a spoiled little rat."

"You want out fine, but as for me I'm gonna prove once and for all that I'm better than you. Then im gonna take my place as a true member of this family, I'm not going to be left out any more. Do you hear me rat?"

"No!"

"Tohru…don't!"

Tohru lunged forward and grabbed Kyou around the waist, directly after a puff of smoke they fell to the ground, a little girl shocked and apologetic and a angry, orange cat.

"I am so sorry, but I saw what was going on and I guess I just panicked. I'm sorry that you're angry but it's not a good idea to fight at school, you'll get into huge trouble if they catch you and on your first day…"

"Shut up! Who do you think you are, this is between me and him. It's got nothing to do with you. You stupid little girl, both of you, for now on just stay the hell away from me."

"Okay that was maximum rage. He hates me that's all there is to it he really hates me."

"Tohru… please don't go. At least wait up. Uhm…oh, I…hmm…Tohru, wait…"

"You are truly an idiot."

"So what, you gonna hit me now?"

"And wouldn't it hurt more if I didn't?"

Tohru kneeled, her back against the wall of the hallway, she sat wit her eyes closed, so deep n thought she didn't even hear Tomomi as she tried to comfort her little sister.

"Tohru don't worry about what Sohma-san said. He is really a nice person but you keep trying to talk to him when he's mad, you just have to talk o him some more. Just be your usual self and there's no way that he could hate you. Not that he hate's you now…it's just that…oh."

"Tohru-chan's, and Tomomi-chan's electric waves, they're over here."

"There they are."

Hey what are you doing in the hall? Class is…"

Tohru quickly got up accidentally slamming into the large red case which held the fire extinguisher. "Ah I did it again. I bumped my head. That almost hurt more than the first time. Look I'm crying it hurts so bad."

"Tohru, are you okay?"

"I would worry but I don't think her brain damage can get any worse."

"Ah, Tohru you're such a klutz. Look Uo-chan, Hana-chan, can you guys make sure she doesn't kill herself, I have to go somewhere. Tell the teacher I got sick, okay. Bye!"

BACK AT THE HOUSE:

Kyou lay sprawled out on the porch, Shigure was in the room just a few feet away but he felt completely alone.

"So you're home, had enough school for one day, huh?"

"I don't want to live in this house any more."

"If you can train on a mountain for four months I think you can endure more than three days here."

"I said such terrible things to those girls, terrible."

"By 'those girls' I take it you mean Tohru-kun, and Tomomi-kun. Let me guess you lost your temper and yelled at them again, right? You know you shouldn't do that if you're just going to regret it. Not to bright now is it."

"Save your breath I'm just not meant to get along with people, period. End of story."

"Oh sure some people just don't , but you're not one of them. You lack experience, that's all. For example, I'm sure you could smash this table to bits with your bare hands but I'm equally sure you could punch the table without braking it. And why is that, because I know your training has taught you to control your fists, at least I should hope so after four months of fighting bears and whatnot." Shigure said while Kyou complained that he didn't fight bears." My point is that it takes just as much training to get along with people. Only training by yourself in the mountains won't do you any good. You need to surround yourself with others. Of course to get to know them you take the risk that you may hurt them or they may hurt you, one of those things might very well happen, but that's the only way we learn about others and about ourselves. You're a black belt in martial arts, but I guess you're still a white belt in social skills. Someday you're going to meet someone who truly wants to be your friend, and you their's, but if you don't keep training you won't be ready when that happens."

"It'll never happen anyway."

"Na ah ah, never say never."

"Okay fine. Maybe if I meet someone with brain damage, or something."

"That's the spirit."

"I'm home." Yuki said as he opened the door.

Kyou slinked away at the sight of Yuki. He rounded the corner and unexpectedly bumped into something, something that suddenly grabbed his arm and covered his mouth. This something pulled him off the porch, but he grabbed onto it's edge, causing himself to crash down on top of the something. He flipped himself over and to his shock was transformed into kitty-Kyou. He looked down in shock at the girl he had just landed on, it was Tomomi. He jumped off her stomach and arched his back, hissing at the girl. "Hey, Sohma-san. You know you're pretty heavy. Hey, since you were able to do that your back must have healed, huh?" Tomomi whispered.

"What the hell are you doing?! And why are you whispering?"

"Why are you whispering?"

"Because you are, stupid."

"Well there's your answer. Anyways you owe someone I know an apology, and from what I just heard you know it."

"What?! You heard that, how much?"

"Uhm, lets see; I came in at 'I don't want to live in this house anymore'. But that doesn't matter, you need to tell Tohru you're sorry before she becomes convinced that you hate her. Now I'm going to trust you to apologize when she comes home from work, I'd help you but I have the graveyard shift tonight. Good luck, Neko-san." She said picking him up and hugging him good bye.

Kyou sat trying to tie his clothes around his neck so that he could go inside before he changed back, all the while steaming mad that Tomomi had hugged him. Or maybe just that he had liked that she hugged him.

Later that night:

Tomomi slumped down the path to the house thinking how strange it was going to have to try not to wake anyone. She figured that since she was coming home late for even her, every one else would be fast asleep. She had been so late that night that if she were to sleep for even a couple of hours, she'd be late for school. She headed to the front door and silently entered the quiet house. She slipped her shoes off and took her coat off draping it over her arm. She started up the stairs until she noticed voices coming from the dining room, she headed over to check it out. She found Everyone else sitting around the table eating a meal together.

"Kyou-san's a stalker, Kyou-san's a stalker, Kyou-san's a stalker."

"You are so full of it!"

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Huh, Tomom…"

Shigure, Yuki, and Kyou whipped around and stared at Tomomi. Her long, wavy hair had been pulled up into a ponytail, with only two small pieces of hair hanging down by her face, a short blue dress that hugged her around the waist and accentuated her curvaceous figure and rippled as she shifted her weight on her matching blue high heels nervously, a lacey white apron was tied around her waist and brought even more attention to her slim figure and seemingly perfect curves. None of them could help but think she looked like some type of doll.

"Oh, hi Tomomi. Are you just getting home? You should've asked to be let off earlier since we have school today. Huh? What's wrong everyone?"

"Oh, nothing. Uhm, Tomomi-kun, why are you dressed like that?"

"This is my work uniform. All the waitresses at my restaurant have to wear them."

"Oh, really. Where exactly do you work?"

"Huh?" Tomomi looked down and inspected her uniform, realizing afterwards that the reason for everyone's strange behavior was a perverted one." You perv, like I'm gonna tell you! Hey, Tohru, did you make this?"

"Of course, and I figured you'd be home soon…well actually I thought you already left… but anyways I made some for you too, its in the kitchen."

"Sorry, I won't be able to eat it I have to go get ready for school, I have practice before school today."

"Oh, what for this time."

"Uhm, I'm pretty sure it's Kendo."

"'Pretty sure' what are you going to do if you're wrong?"

"Well, I'll just have to try and figure out what I have practice with. I'll see you later." With that she headed upstairs.

"I didn't know she was in the Kendo club."

"Oh, yeah Tomomi is the very first freshman Kendo club captain our school's ever had. She's also the only girl on the team this year. She's great."

Suddenly the sound of running water appeared above the group. The boys all blushed and tilted their heads down as they pictured Tomomi taking her shower. Tohru couldn't quite understand why they were all acting so strangely all of a sudden, but she didn't ask.

Tomomi walked quietly down the stairs, her hair still damp from the shower. As she rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs she came face to face with Yuki. "Uhm, hello Honda-ane."

"Good morning Yuki-san." She replied completely straight-faced.

"Did I do something to upset you?"

"No. I'm sorry, I have to go. Tohru might know."

"But you don't know what I'm asking about?" Yuki said after she shut the door behind her.

Tomomi rushed to the school gymnasium, where practice for the kendo club was held. She found her locker and sifted through her many uniforms to find her kendo uniform. After she changed she went into the gym and apologized to her coach for being late. She was moving quite slow compared to her usual speed, with each match against her teammates she became more and more tired, she was exhausted by the end of practice. This was definitely not normal.

She started back to the locker rooms when one of her teammates approached her." Honda-san, can I talk to you for a second?"

"No, I have to get to class."

"But, class doesn't start for another half an hour."

"Exactly."

She changed silently, hating the emptiness of the locker room more and more every minute. She walked to the other side of the school to a quiet, shady oak tree and sat down to draw. She tried her hardest to ignore her exhaustion, the dizzy and achy feeling pounding a hole through her head, and the fact that with every step she took that morning sent waves of pain burning through every muscle in her body. She huffed out wheezing breaths that barely squeezed through her tightly pinched throat, her face red and sweaty.

When she saw more students coming in through the gates she gathered her things and headed to class. She left her bag on her desk and headed over to a corner by a window. Leaning on the wall was the only way she could stay on her feet.

The room soon filled with students, every one ignoring Tomomi in her corner, but that was to be expected considering she had kept them away for a long time. She finally accepted something was wrong when she felt her forehead and had to take her hand away quickly. She slipped past a crowd that had formed around Tohru, Kyou, Uo, Hana, and their game of Rich Man, Poor Man and tried to sneak off to the nurses office. She made it to the door with no one seeing her, but there she ran into Yuki. "Oh Yuki-san, good, you didn't transform."

"Well, you only hit y head. Uhm, by the way, where are you going?"

"Just for a walk. I gotta go, so I'll see you later."

"Wait, Honda-ane, are you alright? Why does she keep running off like that, hmm?"

Tomomi hoped that no one, especially not any one she knew well, would see her like this, the worst thing that could happen is for Tohru to be worried about her. When she finally got to the nurses office her temperature was 45 degrees, the nurse tried to send her to the hospital, but she refused. Instead she went home Shigure could see immediately that something was wrong and sent here to bed where she soon passed out.

After a few hours of sleep her fever went down and she was okayed to go to school the next day. Once she was sure Shigure wasn't coming to check on her again for a while she got up, got dressed, and snuck out the back. She had to walk Tohru home, she felt bad for having not done it in a while and wanted to make it up to her.

It was late at night when Tomomi finally got to Tohru's work. She had planned to wait out side for Tohru but found that someone was already there. She stopped on the other side of the street and inspected the boy in the dark, to her surprise she realized it was Yuki.

Soon Tohru appeared at the doorway, she could see that they were talking but couldn't hear them. They started to walk away then and she fallowed, getting just close enough to hear their words.

"I hope I'm not prying but if there's something bothering you, you know you can talk to me about it right?"

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry, it's just that whenever I have something bothering me it always made me feel better to talk about it."

"Hey love birds go home, its too late to be out on the street." Two men walked by, one of them drunkenly pushed Tohru into Yuki. He, of course, was transformed into a rat.

"Sounds like its past your bedtime, too."

"What are you kiddin' it's still early."

"Then again, you don't have to. I wouldn't want to talk to me either if I kept turning me into a rat."

"No its not your fault, I'm the one with the curse."

Tohru gathered Yuki's things and side by side they walked, Tomomi keeping close behind.

"For years living in the Sohma house felt like living in a cage. Akito always liked to keep me as away from, well, everyone as he could. But what I wanted was to live a normal life with normal people, I wanted to move in with Shigure, go to a normal school. I wondered why he let me go, at first, but I soon found out. I could leave the house but leaving the cage, ha, that wasn't so easy. No, I'm still a cell mate. And no matter how much I might want to , that's something I can never change. I'll always be different, I know that, but what scares me is if I get to close to someone they might realize that, too. Not like Kyou-san, he's shy when he first meets people, but after he gets to know them he can open up to them, be himself. Because of what he is he can never be accepted into the Zodiac, but isn't it better that he can be accepted by normal people, for who he is? That is exactly what I've always wanted. I guess that's why I get so angry with him, because he can't even see what he has. He's blinded by the foolish desire to join the very same family I've spent my whole life trying to run away from."

"Yuki-san, people do accept you, a lot more than you know. I mean, just think of all the girls at school who like you. They always talk about how nice you are."

"But that isn't me. You see they accept me because I'm nice. Well, I only act nice because I want them to accept me, not because it's how I really feel. I'm not a good person, I'm just…selfish."

"Huh? The weather didn't say a thing about rain. What's a day without surprises, I guess?"

"This is bad." Yuki said, he had now transformed back into a human.

Yuki got dressed then started to go down a wooded path. Tohru, refusing to leave him, fallowed. Tomomi, refusing to leave Yuki alone with Tohru, fallowed, suit.

"Yuki-san, what's wrong? Where are we going? A field?"

"No, just a little vegetable garden I take care of."

Tomomi leaned against the trunk of a tree, her breathing starting to wheeze once again. She wrapped her arm around her stomach, feeling as though she might vomit, with her free hand she covered her mouth, and stuck her middle finger in between her teeth, so that Tohru and Yuki wouldn't hear her whimpers of pain. Her consciousness began to fade until she pinched her stomach tight to snap herself out of it.

"Honda-san you are a good person."

"Who me? You really think so, no one but Tomomi has every called me that before. Thank you so much. Maybe, I'm only being nice so that you'll like me. Maybe I'm just being selfish."

"I don't think you could if you wanted to."

"I don't know about that. Mother said everyone can be selfish sometimes, but then again she also said it's better to give them the benefit of the doubt. No one really starts out nice, all we know at first is to want. We want food, we want attention. Its just natural survival instincts I guess. The kindness is something we all have to learn as we go, its something that grows and develops slowly over time the same way as our body does, so kindness can come in all shapes and sizes. _True kindness isn't something we're born with, its something we have to work at. We have to mold it and shape it within ourselves. Not everyone has it, but I think that everyone has the potential. You just have to look really close before you can see it._ Ever since Mother told us that I've really tried to find the good in everyone. Its hard sometimes but its worth it, because I get to see all the different shapes that kindness can take. For example I think your's is sort of like a candle; whenever you're around you always seem to bring just a little bit more light into the room, everything's brighter and it just makes me want to smile. Oh, but now you're looking at me like I'm crazy."

"Ah, no. I'm sorry its just, I guess I'm not used to talking like this."

"But I'm glad that we are. If you're comfortable enough to share your feelings with someone, I'd say that's usually a pretty good sign that you're getting to be pretty close friends."

Tomomi listened closely to Tohru's words, but when she heard her sister say this she refused to hear anymore and left with her shocked face hidden under her soaked hair. She slumped back to the house, having no where else to go. She made her way clumsily up the stairs, using the banister for support. She entered her room, grabbed her drawing pad, sat down against the wall and began to draw. She began to draw Tohru, Yuki, rain, and the small garden which they had visited. When she suddenly felt dizzy again she could do nothing to stop herself from passing out.

Tohru walked upstairs, excited to tell her sister about her visit to a real secret base. She was intercepted by Shigure. "Tohru-kun, have you seen Tomomi-kun?"

"Uhm, no. She left school early, so isn't she here?"

""Well she was here for a while. She was very sick, but we got her temperature down then I left her alone for a few seconds and when I checked on her again she was gone. I haven't seen her since."

"Oh no, Tomomi! She might have gotten even more sick, and it was raining earlier! She's probably been taken away by some pervert, what should I do?! I know, I'll call Hana-chan and Uo-chan, they might have seen her."

"Okay, tell me if they have, we'll go get her."

"Right."

Tohru opened her door to drop off her bag, when she glanced over to a figure laying in the corner on the far side of the room and realized it was a person she screamed in surprise. Yuki, Shigure and even Kyou came running from allover the house. They turned the lights on and quickly rushed to Tomomi's unconscious figure.

Kyou sat, arms crossed, one leg bent the other stretched out straight; waiting by Tomomi's bed. She had been sleeping since she had fallen unconscious a few hours ago, her temperature had gone down but her body was restless and her breathing was raspy. Tohru had finally gone to sleep only thirty minutes ago, but since then Kyou had been left alone to watch Tomomi and keep her temp. down. He had offered to do this with an put on face of reluctance and hesitation, but had really wanted to take care of her…secretly.

Tomomi shifted in her sleep, rolling on to her stomach and throwing her hand over the side of the bed. Her hand had just missed Kyou's face and he had to hold back the urge to yell at her for it. Her breathing seemed to suddenly quicken and wheeze louder and more forcefully. Kyou kept his worry inside himself and figured it must be because of her being on her stomach and took her hand and pushed on her hip to roll her over. As soon as he took her hand her breathing slowed and quieted to normal deep breaths. Kyou stopped trying to roll her over and stared at her hand in his, even though she was unconscious his heart quickened as her warm breath tickled the back of his hand. He leaned back against the wall, still staring open mouthed at her peaceful face.


End file.
